Improvement in door-latches



H. UNDBRWOOD.

DOOR LATCH.

l Ne. 44,476. Patented Sept. 27, 1864 Y'ff Zveizforr y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY UNDERWOOD, 0F TOLLAND, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN ADOCDF-LATCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 44,476, dated September 27, 1864.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Beit known that l, HENRY UNDERWooD, of Iolland, in the county of Tolland and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved Door-Latch and I do hereby declare that the following is a t'ull, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accom pan yiu g drawings, forming part of this specification, in

Figure 1 represents a horizontal section of my invention, taken in the line a: a', Fig..2; Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section of the same, taken in the line y y, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an outer side view of the same, the knob-arbor being in section, as indicated by the line e e, Y

beveled at its outer end, as usual, as shown at- Fig. 1, to admit of passing into the strike or nosng B when the door is closed.

C represents the knobarbor, which passes horizontally through the door, just above the back part ot' the bolt A, and is composed of twoparts, c c', each of which is in the forni of a crank, as shown clearly in Fig. 1, each part having a knob, D, on its outer end.

'lhe two parts c c of the knolnarborare connected as follows: The part c at its inner end is made of cylindrical form,.as shown at d, and has a plate, e, projecting radially from it of sufficient length to fit into a recess, j', in

the upper side of the bolt near its back end.

(See more particularly Fig.'2.) :The inner end of the part c of the knob-arbor is madein the form ot' a tube, g, and this tube g has a longitudinal slot, h, made in it to receive the plate e, the slot being widerthan the thickness of the plate to admitof the plate e being moved or shoved back, and' the cylindrical end d of the part c ot' the knob-arbor being turned a certain distance Without aiiecting the part c ofthe knob-arbor.

In consequence of having the two parts c c of the knob-arbor in the form of cranks, the knobs D are made to serve as weights, the knob of the part c causing the bolt A to be forced out from the mortise a as far as it is designed to move, the part c resting oua stop, li, on a plate, j, at the outer side of the door. The part c of the knobarbor rests upon a similar stop, k, which keeps the tube gin such a position that the plate e of c will be in contact with the front edge ot' the slot h of tube g. (See Fig. 2.)

From the above description it will be seen that in order to draw the bol-t A inward. and free from the strike or nosing, either ot the knobs D are raised, which causes the plate c to act upon the bolt A and move back the bolt; and it will further be seen that when the grasping the knob on the part a of the arbor,

the bolt A will, as its beveled end comes in contact with the strike or nosng, be forced back Without turning the lpart o', owing to the play ofthe plate c in the slot h ot the tube g; Thus it will be seen that I avoid the use ofa spring, the gravity of the knobs being made to answer instead, and at the same time the bolt is allowed in closing the door to bc forced back without turning the knob, which is grasped by the hand.

I am aware thatthe crank-knob is in common use on the spring door-latch, it being applied for the purpose of removing the knob farther from the edge of the door, so as to prevent the knuckles of the hand being injured as the door is drawn to or closed from without; but this application or device throws so much more weight or Work on the spring, causing it soon to lose its vitality.- In my application ot' the crank-knob -it has the abovenamed advantages without its disadvantage. It can also be applied to sash-doors Where the bolt must be short, the crank taking the knob from the edge of the door just so tar as may be desirable.

I claim vas new. and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The crank-shaped knob-arbor C, provided with the plate e, in combination with the slide-- bolt A, arranged substantially as and for the h, to receive the inner end, (7, and platee of tho purpose herein .set forth.

2. Constructing the knob arbor C of two parts, c c', one part, c, being of cylindrical form at its inner end, d. and having the plate e projecting from it, and the other part, c', having a, tube, g, at its inner end provided with a slot,

part c, all arranged to operate substantially as zind for the purposevset forth.

HENRY UNDERWOOD. Witnesses JOSEPH BISHOP, CHARLES UNDERWooD. 

